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Argyria
Argyria is a continent located in the New World, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere. Geography Effectively a huge island, it is bordered on the north by the Corellian Ocean, on the south by the Nordic Ocean, and on the east by Pharaonic Ocean. For most of history it has been relatively isolated from the Old World, and its dense jungles and high mountains have made its exploration by pioneers, colonists and explorers from the Old World very slow. The continent has a very diverse climate, with humid jungles, glacial mountains, lush grasslands and arid deserts observable just in the north of the continent. This has led to a wide variety of plants and animals evolving in the region, quite dissimilar to any found in the Old World. History Intelligent life has lived in Argyria for over 10,000 years. The native life consists mostly of humanoid lizardfolk with scaled skin, although communities of elves and humans have also been discovered on the continent. The first evidence of permanent settlement in Argyria dates back over 5,000 years, to ancient and weather-beaten pyramids and abandoned cities found deep in the jungle. These were originally inhabited by lizardmen of various sorts, but their language, magic and culture is a relative mystery in the modern world. The first documented attempts to “discover” the New World began 2,900 years ago, but nobody knows of the success or failure of these earliest expeditions. It was over two millennia before James Palumbo, an explorer from the Old World definitively discovered Argyria. The previous 500 years have been full of conflict in Argyria: conflict between colonists, conflict between natives, and conflict between the two. While conflict has fuelled colonial expansion, it has led to the decline of many native civilisations, and there is almost a no man’s land between colonies and native civilisations, filled with the ruins of both. Until the last century, most of the expeditions to Argyria were privately-funded and the settlements established were independent of colonial powers. However, over the past 100 years, colonial powers have established their own colonies and taken over independent ones. Peoples Intelligent life can be found throughout all of Argyria. Alongside many strange and wonderful creatures, there are broadly three culture groups of civilised peoples, the lizardfolk, the Olman, and the new colonists. The first group are the native lizardfolk. These people are defined by scaly skin and a resemblance to lizards and other reptiles. There are many different varieties of these, and they generally vary by region as to their particular sort and colouring. They have large and advanced civilisations, and live in large cities beyond the reach of the colonists. Those that were within reach of the colonies, tended to either die out, move away or exterminate the colonists and obliterate the colonies from the map. The second group are the native humanoids known as Olmans. Most Olmans are human, but there is a significant minority of elves. Olmans live closer to the coasts than lizardfolk, and often live off the sea. Many Olman civilisations have fallen since the arrival of the colonists, crushed between them and the lizardfolk. Olmans have fared the best in their interactions with the Albaidans, who have integrated them into their colonial structure in most places. The third group are the new colonists – people from Feronia, Kupara and Chaldea who have travelled across the ocean to Argyria to establish a new life in the colonies. A large number of these still hold fealty to their metropolitan lords, but in Argyria the majority live in free colonies, independent ventures founded privately. There are many free colonies that exist either as democracies, oligarchies or monarchies. In addition to these, the last century has seen many colonies established or absorbed by colonial empires, the largest of which in this region are Albaida, Coremandel, the Emerald Empire, Jutunland (on behalf of the Eastern Empire of Sacred Rythia), Midgard, Sai Nim (through vassal warlords), Sapphenland, the Scarlet Brotherhood, and Telamon. Category:Place Category:Rythiae Category:Continent Category:New World Category:Argyria